TAKING TOO MANY ZZZ’s: ZONING + ZAPSON = ZERO FOR LONG BEACH

Long Beach with its finite space, fragile natural environment and residential flavor has limited room for new development.  I know that negativity is bad for the community and it's easy to do without an alternate plan. But there is a foundation issue that colors my opinion. My problem is the role imputed to Michael Zapson as attorney for developers. I cannot help but to question projects’ being represented by Michael Zapson, whose record under the Cammarato administration and his possible conflict of interest casts shadow over several of the building development projects in the City by the Sea. 

Michael G. Zapson is the Managing Attorney of the Long Island office of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, a prestigious law and lobbying firm. Zapson also is Chairman of the Long Beach Democratic Committee and is a member of the Executive Board of the Nassau County Democratic Committee. As an attorney, his practice is focused on commercial litigation, real estate, and zoning.  Zapson was on the Long Beach City Council during the Gene Cammarato administration.  I cannot feel Zapson has grown far from his Cammarato-era roots, when over-development in Long Beach ran rampant.  I do not trust he can remain objective in the City’s best interests while working for his law firm's needs. 

For example: Zapson’s firm represents i-Star, the developers of the Boardwalk Twin Towers.  i-Star  proposed to build two 15-story buildings. The towers were taller and denser than zoning code allowed, so iStar asked the city zoning board of appeals for a variance. The variance was quickly approved. I believe Zapson’s presence made the i-Star project fly through ZBA and City approval, with little deference to current impact studies, and with generous accommodation.  Fifteen stories is not the only thing casting shadows. There are other decisions made in favor of Zapson’s Davidoff clients that have provoked trouble with neighbors. For example, Zapson’s firm represented Elizabeth Hill, who is applied for a variance to build an over 40 foot house at 232 West Bay Drive. This unusually-tall structure at the bay-side residential street would negatively affect the water-view of several neighbors on Pine Street and Bay Drive and inappropriately skewer the bay-front landscape. Zapson’s client prevailed to get a height variance, although the ZBA somewhat knocked down the height allowed. In the West End, Anthony Eramo, a City Councilman who had been Zapson’s choice for Assembly, was permitted overbuilding on his property by the Building Department without variance, including variance for an unconscionably- wide curb-cut at his property line (effectively denying valuable parking spaces for neighbors.) It appears that the expanded curb-cut is permitted by law, but one must ask “just because I can, is it right to do” and what does the act of doing this communicate to neighbors. Eramo, a Working Families Party officer, should be ideologically inclined towards environmentally-sound policies and fighting for the rights of working families, but an at-odds result is communicated by his house project.) Many of the elevated house projects in the West End neighborhood are in need of an audit.  Much of the building going on encroaches permissible parameters. Precedent allowances for sub-divisions in the Canals has already served notice of a favorable climate for developers, and there are already questions about who will benefit from a development bonanza in case the new management of the former Long Beach Medical Center fails and their newly-acquired bay-front property is sold.

Meanwhile, Sandy-scarred Long Beach has generally given a pass on serious organized objection.  Long Beach is being re-built “stronger and safer” but perhaps not “smarter.” 

It is not, of course, Zapson, who directly approves the projects.  It begins with the building department and sometimes goes to the zoning board of appeals.  Who are these persons? Building department is headed by Commissioner Scot Kemins. Kemins has held this post for many years, spanning both Democrat and Republican administrations. Kemins is generally regarded as a pleasant and civic-minded individual who takes his job seriously.  Critics believe he does not hold the professional or academic credentials typically expected of a building commissioner, and suggest that the Building Department, not having a professional architect, engineer or urban planner is under-qualified for the sophisticated needs of Long Beach.  They contend that Kemins is generally unable to effectively enforce zoning and building violations due to limited staff and the high volume of violations being committed.  

It is hoped that a building department project authority, lest  the City will end up in disarray. An effective building department must operate in a manner that involves authoritatively denying requests that are not in the best interest of the greater city while having the foresight to recognize projects that are worthy of presentation and review by the Zoning Review Board.  A variance, by definition, is only granted upon proof of a hardship. The authority of the Building Department must come from having a firm grasp of the rules and guidelines that a Building Department is to enforce as well as an understanding of the impact that the built environment has upon the greater city as a whole.   

If a Building Department permit is denied, the applicant can appeal the denial to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA.) Members of the Board are appointed by the City Council.  Board membership is not a paid position, but is often a political stepping-stone.  Who are the members of this vital agency?  They are: Chairman Rocco Morelli, a dentist, having the longest tenure on the ZBA; Angelo Lomonte, a marketing and advertising director, and the only remaining Republican appointee on the Board; David Blythewood, a lawyer; Esteban Acevedo, a mortgage broker; Stuart Banscick, a retail-store manager; Maryellen Feiler, a para-legal and the former personal secretary of Eugene Cammarato; Michael Leonetti, an architect.

My opinion is that that the Zoning Board of Appeals has been overly-permissive in approving variances.  The ZBA must be held accountable and those who appoint them must be held accountable. It appears that an appointee is generally selected based on their supportive relationship with the infrastructure of the political party in control and that they are inclined to support the position of party leadership on the projects the Party supports. 

Am I wrong? Very wrong? Or right? 

Zoning guidelines affect quality of life. Overbuilding a property, all the more in a dense area such as Long Beach, equates to privatizing something that a land owner is not entitled to possess. Overbuilding degrades a neighborhood by placing self-interest before that of a neighborhood.  Overbuilding puts at greater risk an already-compromised water-supply, as the aquifer gets increased demands that accelerate sea-water seepage. The act of creating architecture unavoidably has political connotations. There are points during the planning of a built project that the partnership of a property owner and an architect inevitably confront the decision of whether to be conscientious or disregard the fact that what one builds projects a message to their immediate community and beyond.   

Much of the ongoing rebuilding effort in Long Beach, in my opinion, suffers deficient oversight and enforcement.  It often strays in its implementation from the guidelines suggested by New York Rising protecting the public streetscape, adequate lighting and adequate air flow street level.  A neighborhood with the density of Long Beach cannot function without a conscientious respect for the modest amount of shared open space that zoning guidelines exist in order to protect.  

The City Council of Long Beach has a serious liability if it has an ineffective Building Department and a politically-exploitable Zoning Board of Appeals. Their liability is all the more pronounced if, perchance, decisions are made or encouraged by the vested interest of its Party leader. The City Council justifiably takes credit for its involvement with Sandy-recovery planning. However, it must also take blame for overdevelopment and haphazard monitoring of variances. The City Council controls the building department and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Both the positive and the less so will undoubtedly be a reflection upon time in office. The rebuilt boardwalk is unequivocally a success. But, a successfully rebuilt boardwalk amounts to a hollow symbolic gesture if the remainder of the rebuilding effort is not judiciously watched over and implemented.  I am neither encouraged nor optimistic about the likely results of future building endeavors if the rebuilding efforts that this Building Department and ZBA have permitted  are indicative of things to come and if decisions are crafted with consideration of the vested interest of Party leadership. Otherwise, we will be left living in a compromised-built environment.

Wake up! Don’t take too many ZZZ’s.